The survey found that most Russian motorists choose their favorite oil brands based on personal experience, while some based their selection on advice from service center technicians. According to Autostat, among those respondents who said they choose a motor oil brand based on their service center technician’s advice, around 30% said they use the engine oil of French company Motul, while 22% reported using German marketer Liqui Moly’s products. The Japanese Idemitsu brand, the Korean brand Kixx as well as Shell’s motor oils, combined, were first choice of 19% of motorists surveyed. Autostat didn’t disclose the individual percentages for each brand.

In Moscow, the largest sub-market in Russia, more than 63% of the motorists said they preferred to buy motor oils in plastic containers, whereas in the rest of the country’s regions, the percentage was lower, at 58%.

The survey also asked those customers who switched to a different motor oil brand to provide the main reason that they switched. Autostat found that the main reason motorists transitioned to another brand is recent purchase of a new car, disappointment in the quality of the previous motor oil brand they used and significant price hikes of their previously desired brand.

Autostat’s survey asked motorists what medium they most often used to learn about new motor oil products and what online search engines they used to obtain information about them. TV ads were considered the most effective way that end-users learn about the new products, while a smaller number cited online commercials. The survey found that 43% of respondents used different searching web sites, such as Yandex or Google, while one in five respondents said they use online motorist blogs or lubricant marketer websites.

The report concludes with detailed information on the customers’ preferences related to 15 leading brands in the Russian motor oil market.